Misae kept dodging Kyung and Jaehyo’s attacks. It was like being caught in a wild dance. While they knew the steps perfectly, she could only improvise. Because the show that was her life had to go on.

No matter what.

As soon as Kyung went for her, she knew he could mean death if she wasn’t careful enough. In fact, his attacks were as thoughtless as Jaehyo’s. But for different reasons. If Jaehyo’s advantages were his incredible speed and dexterity, Kyung’s had strength and tenacity on his side. He belonged to a second type of fighters. The strongest ones. And they were far more worrying than the fastest. Because, if they caught you, it was assuredly the end.

However, they also had their own weaknesses. Their oversized ego. They never thought twice before pouncing on an adversary because they thought they were invincible. And one could say they were, in a way. But not when they faced a fighter belonging to the third –and last– category. That’s clearly the reason why Misae was still alive. She had always played her hunch, following her instinct.

Her purpose, since the ten earlier minutes and until now, was to exhaust the two boys by forcing them to attack continuously. She could obviously not attack when they were undeniably stronger than her still half-human self. She could hardly give blows but she could effortlessly avoid theirs. Her plan was simple, yet crafty. While she weakened them, Misae kept her energy for when she would need it.

She observed how they didn’t abandon, no matter how much they seemed frustrated by the fact they could never reach her. While keeping her focus on her opponents’ moves, she couldn’t help but to wonder why the third one didn’t make a single move. He seemed the most reluctant to kill simply out of duty. Leaning against a tree, he had a constant frown on his face as he gazed at the scene playing in front of his chocolate brown eyes. Unconsciously, her own face mirrored his bothered expression. It was strange. No, he was strange. Not to mention that she felt a presence not too far away from her spot. Other than her three opponents’ one.

She instantly got snapped out of her swirling thoughts as a sudden, breathtaking pain assaulted her. She had been too absentminded and Jaehyo availed the moment to punch her right in her bare, lower stomach. She stepped backward and gasped due to the impact which cut her breath for a short moment. Fortunately for her, he wasn’t Kyung.

The girl hastily stepped aside, only a few centimeters away, ignoring her pain, as the boy aimed at her stomach, once again. She didn’t let him realize his failure and, as she couldn’t hold her own frustration back anymore, she shoved her bare foot into the boy’s groin, as a –cruel– payback. He howled in pain and she didn’t hesitate to make use of his current bent-forward position to powerfully ram her knee into his ribs.

“That will teach you.” she snapped at him, who had just collapsed on the cold, snowy ground, holding onto his painful spots, as if it could somehow ease the throbbing pain he was going through. At least, it would ‘occupy’ him for a few minutes.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kyung availing the situation. He was running towards her and she couldn’t even avoid him. Thankfully, he wasn’t as fast as Jaehyo. As she darted her head around her, frantically searching for a way to escape, her eyes landed on a nearby, steady tree. She looked back at him, waiting for the strong boy to be approximately two meters away from her. It was risky to do such a thing, but it was the only solution that came to her mind. And she certainly didn’t have the entire day to weigh the pros and the cons of her next action. She ran the faster she could in the opposite direction.

“There’s no need to flee” Kyung’s voice resounded threateningly behind Misae, implying she could never escape his big, murderous hands.

“It doesn’t take an Einstein to know that I’m not” she sniggered behind her breath, but she was sure he heard her. She quickened her already fast pace, taking her momentum.

“What the—” the boy stopped dead in his words, and in his tracks.

But it was too late, already. As Misae’s right feet landed on the tree trunk, she pushed the harder she could. Back flipping off of the same tree, she landed just behind her opponent and before he could turn around and realize what was going to happen to him, she threw a forceful kick in his lower back and witnessed how his head painfully crashed against the hard, wooden surface.

“Strong but stupid” she mumbled, her eyes lingering on him. Mimicking Jaehyo, he kneeled down on the white ground; trying to control the pain she had just inflicted him. Some drops of blood began to stain the immaculate snow in front of his body.

Not wishing to waste any more time on him, her concentration immediately went back to the remaining boy. She quickly looked back to the tree he had previously been leaning against, but to her utmost surprise, he was nowhere to be found.

She had been wrong. Kyung wasn’t the toughest out of them three. Because there was still a third category of fighters. The same one Misae was part of. The same one the remaining boy also belonged to. The prudent, smart and cunning ones. These ones were doubtlessly deadly. Because they always observed and thought things over before acting. They trusted their intuitions and were able to adapt to whatever situation they were in. They didn’t fight with their strength but with their brains. Which was definitely much more accurate and way more effective.

What if these two boys she had knocked off were simply here to create a diversion? Had she just been fooled? She should have been more attentive to the third man. But then again, she couldn’t pay attention to everything around her. They were three and she was alone. It would have happened, whether now or half an hour later. Ever since she became aware that they found her, she knew the outcome of this fight would hardly be positive. At least, not for her. The only reason she had been able to deal with Kyung and Jaehyo was because the other let her. She clearly wouldn’t have been able to take care of three adversaries all at once. Not when she had no one to have her back.

Misae could hear the frantic beats of her panic-stricken heart rising to her ears. Her eyes madly darted around the area but she couldn’t spot him. Adopting her defensive position, her legs slightly bent forward, her hands ready to grab anything that could come near her, her head kept on peeping in several directions, slowly spinning around so she wouldn’t be caught by surprise. A few long, nerve-wrecking seconds passed by in silence, except for the two men, still in pain.

She suddenly felt a presence right behind her. Her eyes wide, she hastily crouched down and turned her head around to see Jihoon standing over her, something sharp shining in his hand. She didn’t have to look any longer to know what it was. With a circular sweep of her feet, she kicked the boy’s ankle, making him fall to the ground as she finally turned her body around in his direction. But it was without counting on Kyung who had already recovered from his pain. His right arm s around her neck, with his other hand, he caught the knife Jihoon threw him and attempted to jab it into the Misae’s stomach, now at his mercy. She barely blocked his arm with her left forearm, however, he was definitely stronger than her and she witnessed how the distance between the blade and her skin was slowly but surely decreasing. No matter how much strength she was using, it was useless against Kyung. She was caught. Her world would end neither in fire nor in ice, but with this knife, now entering her flesh, deeper than she thought it was possible. It might not be ice, but it still seemed a cold ending in her opinion.

Silent tears left the brim of her eyes due to the excruciating pain as she tried her best to restrain her scream. She would not give him that satisfaction. Because even the third-category people had their weaknesses.

Misae’s weak point was her pride.

Honestly speaking, maybe, just maybe she would have had a chance to survive if she had decided to flee rather than take part into a fight doomed to failure. They might have managed to catch her, yes, but she couldn’t deny that her current situation was partly due to her stubbornness. Her tenacity, sometimes, was self-destructive.

Adrenaline and instinct had always been her best friends. That was what pushed her to do what she did next. For the instinctive sake of survival. Sinking her teeth into his forearm, she bit him. He growled dangerously but still loosened his grip around her neck. Taking advantage of being a bit freer in her movements, she elbowed him in the ribs. She stepped forward and turned around so she would face him. Removing the knife still jabbed in her stomach, she threw it right at him and witnessed with satisfaction that it landed in his right thigh.

Her action caused Jaehyo to snarl threateningly. In no time, he pounced on her, and Misae barely dodged him. His anger overwhelmed him and he was on the brim of losing control and turning. Thus, he was stronger than earlier. And faster. Not to mention that her wound was deep and there was no need to examine it to know that blood was already dripping from her severe injury. She w